Rise of the Red Dragon Emperor
by DragonKingNatsu
Summary: The sacred gear system had one fatal flaw. When Issei is killed by Raynare, he awakens the memories and powers of Ddraig stored within the Boosted Gear. Now, he will rise again as the servant of Rias Gremory and, more importantly, as the Red Dragon Emperor! Issei is Ddraig. DevilDragon/Less perverted Issei. Issei x harem.
1. Chapter 1

AN: So, I found myself growing annoyed at the last two chapters of SotDK, my other story. The last chapter was boring to write, and I wasn't pleased by how it turned out, so I'm taking a break. Fortunately, this idea ruthlessly consumed my imagination until I wrote it down. So now you have this...

Regarding the title: I changed it.

Summary: The sacred gear system had one fatal flaw. When Issei is killed by Raynare, he awakens the memories and powers of Ddraig stored within the Boosted Gear. Now, he will shake the world as the servant of Rias Gremory, but, more importantly, as the True Red Dragon Emperor! Issei is Ddraig. Less perverted Issei. Issei x harem.

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Ch1: Memories

Sacred gears were an imperfect invention brought forth by the Biblical God for two purposes. While the first was to bestow a divine blessing upon a chosen few, the second was far more sinister in nature: to bind for eternity those who displeased him. It took far less energy to seal a being strong enough to pose a threat than it did to kill them, and for one as experienced in such an art, it was easily preferable. The most notable instance was the defeat of the two heavenly dragons, Albion and Ddraig, who had the power to destroy the entire world in the midst of their rivalry. The dragons' power was passed on for centuries through the system, their sacred gears manifesting in humans and granting them immense power capable of destroying gods.

But there was a fatal flaw. God, in all of his forethought and planning, forgot one simple fact: Even he, for all his power, could die. And surely enough, in the greatest battle of the war between angels, devils, and fallen angels, he was killed.

The sacred gear required energy to work, and a lot of it, comparable to the cost of keeping heaven afloat. When dealing with sealed beings much effort was necessary to keep them from escaping, either through their host or the object they were contained within. Sacred gears attached themselves to the souls of their bearers, and only the Biblical God had the ability to keep the two separate.

Of course, he was dead now, and the archangel Michael replaced him. Though strong in his own right, Michael didn't have the capability to keep the stronger beings, such as heavenly dragons, separate from their hosts, leading to the hosts often being refereed to as dragons themselves. Luckily for the archangel, the dragons themselves were still sealed firmly within their respective gears, though the hosts found themselves more easily able to take on their dragon's power. He knew it was fortunate that the troubles stopped there, and hundreds of years later, he forgot all about his fears of the dragons escaping. And even if they did manage to break free from the infinite loop, their bodies were obliterated, scattered into a million pieces then decayed by time until there was nothing left.

It wasn't like one of them could ever return.

There was no way he could have expected this...

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Issei Hyoudou was thirteen when it first happened. His school was having an school spirit oriented event where each grade came to class sporting its unique color. The year above wore white, one of the school's three colors. For the entire day, he found himself inexplicably angry at them, scowling at his upperclassmen more often than not. His buddies, Matsuda and Motohama, long before either were perverts, thought Issei was just having an off day, probably irked by a test grade or the like. Issei himself thought nothing of it at the time, thinking he was perfectly justified in his distaste of the school's choice of such a plain color. Halfway through the day, a throbbing pain struck his left arm, and he went to see the nurse, who promptly sent him home to his parents for rest. She had no idea what ailed him, so she told the Hyoudous to find a pediatrician and get him checked out.

Nothing was wrong, and the pain faded over the next day.

Then, two days after that weird day of school, he dreamed of a white dragon. A week after that, he found himself idly drawing a dragon on his notebook paper, and he didn't even have the first clue on how to draw! The instances grew in frequency. In tandem, the images and dreams began to grow more diverse, though most were of this white dragon. It glared at him, challenging him to a fight, and he found it growing harder and harder to deny. There was a thrill about it, an eagerness to see the white one submit, but he also began to see it as an old friend.

He liked seeing that dragon. Between his anime and manga interests, not much noteworthy happened in his childhood. But now, something was happening, like he was waking up.

A month later, the flashes increased until they came every day. He was able to put a name to the dragon, Albion, and the word felt strangely familiar, as if he'd known it all his life. The next day, despite there being a school uniform, he wore a red tee shirt. When he was promptly sent back home to grab his uniform, he settled for wearing the color wherever he could.

It was about another month after that he figured out he could smell and sense things his friends weren't able to, and he even learned how to distinguish people by their scent alone. His parents were creeped out, and his buddies thought it was incredible that he could tell people apart while blindfolded (though Issei didn't tell them how he could do it). He knew that this should remain something he kept to himself.

A year later at the age of fourteen, when a new girl transferred to his school, Issei noticed that she was unusually attracted to him and that she smelled different than most humans. He wasn't sure why he began calling his friends humans, nor did he realize the transition. When she introduced herself to him, he returned the favor. "My name's Ddra- Hyoudou Issei." He was confused by the slip up, having gone by the same name his whole life. A couple days later, the girl transferred out, never to be seen again. That day left him with only one thought: 'Why did I almost call myself Ddraig?'

As years passed, he grew accustomed to finding out more about himself and accepting all the new developments in stride. He was stronger, more resilient, even a little smarter, but he remained almost the same kindhearted kid with a love of Dragon Ball Z. Though he was definitely considered more attractive by girls, much to the newfound envy of Matsuda and Motohama, he wasn't quite sure with how to deal with their affections. He told his parents about the changes, though, since they were family, and would help him with anything. At first, they thought he was crazy, and they even tried to take him to doctors to see what was wrong. Eventually, they figured out that he was, somehow, telling them the truth.

He felt for certain that he had lived another life, one that he wasn't able to remember.

.

It was when he was seventeen that everything changed. For almost two years now he'd gone to Kuoh Academy, a reputable school that had an amazing ratio of girls to guys, a fact not lost on the fortunate teenage boys attending. Issei, though he admired women, still wasn't sure how to deal with them. 'Human females are strange,' he always told himself, as if he knew that there were females that weren't human, a knowledge he'd come to accept. That was just one of the many strange thoughts that naturally passed through his head, the most noticeable of which was the name Ddraig. It felt like his name, perhaps it once was, but he hated that the one word and some flashes were all he could remember.

"Do you ever feel like life should have something more?" He asked aloud. His two buddies from middle school, Matsuda and Motohama, were laying on a grassy hillside with him. School had just ended, but clubs were in full swing, meaning that Issei's two lecherous friends got to peek on girls.

"All the time, brother!" Matsuda exclaimed. "Like a harem filled with the girls from the kendo club!" The former athlete, now known as the Perverted Baldy, was an interesting character, considering that he gave up sports to pursue less than honest desires.

"That's right," Motohama agreed. "Haven't you seen Katase's legs and Murayama's chest?" Motohama, called Three Sizes Scouter for his ability to discern a woman's three sizes at a glance, used to be a near-genius and a top chess player. Sadly, now he cared more about using his intelligence to calculate the perfect woman.

Issei nearly rolled his eyes at his friends. During school hours, this was all they ever thought about. "I was talking about how boring school is." Sort of the truth, though anything involving Issei was a lot more complicated than that.

"Boring?" Matsuda seemed offended. "Boy, we've got all these hot girls out today!" He saw that Issei was still a little distant. "Come on bro, lighten up a little."

"Yeah Issei," Motohama added, "you should go get a girlfriend. That could help you!" A girlfriend, as in someone he could open up to? That didn't sound too bad.

While their advice was predictable in nature, perhaps they were still right. "Ehhh, I guess so. But how? I don't have any idea what to do..."

Matsuda scoffed. "They all love you. It should be a piece of cake to find one you like too."

"I suppose." He was watching some students in the distance before he spotted the elegant red hair of one of the school's Two Great Sisters, called so for their good grades and impeccable looks. Rias Gremory, she was one of those funny-smelling people, and Issei doubted that he could call her human. They claimed she was a foreign exchange student from northern Europe, though he wasn't sure he believed that. There was just something about her that warned him to be cautious, and this instinct often translated to nervousness at times.

Rias shot a glance his way, and he could spot the deep blue eyes despite the huge distance, and Issei stared dumbly. She chuckled into her hand and turned back to her friend, Akeno Himejima, the other of the Two Great Sisters, and said something. Feeling strangely self-conscious, he blushed a little and stood up, deciding it was time to head home.

"Leaving already, Issei?" Motohama said. Normally, he'd stay for another half an hour, enough to bail his friends out of whatever trouble they'd gotten into, then he'd be gone.

Issei shrugged. "Yup."

With that, he began the long trek home. He spent most of it looking at the sky, feeling some inexplicable longing to fly through it. From the small tidbits of memories he did have, he knew that flying under ones own power was one of the best things in the world. The trip home always turned into a journey when he stopped and watched clouds, often loosing track of time. His parents didn't care much about how long it took him to get back, not as long as he made it for dinner every now and then.

Today, he was out until the sun had started to set, having pulled out a notebook and unconsciously doodled a western dragon in it. When he tried he couldn't draw if his life depended on it, yet when he let his mind wander to those flashes of memory, he always could draw either this dragon or its counterpart. While one invoked his pride, the other made him scowl. With a shrug, he put the notebook away and continued his walk, coming up to the bridge he always crossed to get home.

'Something smells off...' It was like that transfer student from many years back. His sharp sight could spot a figure on the other side, a girl whose school uniform had a golden 'P' on it. She had black hair and violet eyes, reminding him of Akeno in a way.

In a few seconds, she was close enough to approach him, clearly nervous about something. "A-ano. Are you Hyoudou Issei-san from Kuoh Academy?"

"Yeah?" Well, that was strange. He'd never seen that uniform before, and unknown people walking up to him like this definitely sparked caution.

"I've seen you around, and I think you're pretty cute."

'Cute, really? Well, I can't deny that I'm attractive.' He wasn't always so prideful, not that he realized his confidence had increased over the many years. "I think you're not so bad yourself." Her face reddened and she gazed away from him.

"M-my name's Amano Yuuma. W-will you go out with me." She seemed so shy!

"Wait, what was that?"

"Will you be my boyfriend?!" She almost shouted, an enormous blush on her cheeks.

'A girl asking me?' She wasn't the first to pose that question, but she was the first to seem so sincere about it. Never before had he really needed or wanted a human girlfriend, though after his talk with his friends earlier today, he wasn't sure he could deny Yuuma. Then again, she was also one of those bird-smelling humans, and he was tired of not knowing how or why they were different.

"I don't see why not."

That was what quite literally marked the beginning of his end.

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The next few days were much better for Issei. Once Yuuma had given him his contact information, he brought her to Kuoh Academy and gave her a tour of the place, obviously taking the time to gloat to Matsuda and Motohama. Those pervs really needed to figure out that the opposite gender was repulsed by their antics, and their chances of getting a date would quadruple if they stopped screaming out everyone's panty colors. That was part of the fun of gloating, and the other was his inflated sense of pride. Either way, he spent much of the week getting to know Yuuma. While he never did figure out what exactly was... off... about her scent and mannerisms, he did notice that she was bashful and polite.

Issei had also noticed that a first year, Koneko Tojou, had been following him around recently. He wasn't sure why yet, but he knew he'd find out eventually. There was something up with that club she was in, the Occult Research Club, and it involved some of the most prominent members of the school.

Now, though, school seemed like such a silly thing to have on his mind. He just had his first date, and it was with the charming Yuuma. His friends were totally right, she put a smile on his lips without much effort. They had eaten dinner, gone bowling, and even visited an arcade for a half hour, all on Issei's suggestion. He thought it went well.

The sky was growing darker, the sunset casting shadows over the park they walked through it, hands intertwined. As the shadows grew longer around them, Issei couldn't help but appreciate how fitting Yuuma's name was. It suggested all of the beauty that their date had converged towards, this everyday spectacle of the sunset. Still, there was something sinister in the air, and his instincts were screaming at him. Danger was swiftly approaching.

With his unoccupied hand, he reached into his pocket and felt the flier that he'd kept for the whole day. Something about it seemed vital.

"Issei-kun, I had a great time today." Her voice drew him from his thoughts.

"Me too." Really, she had fun? He thought he'd been such a bore. Why was he only able to think up bowling as a normal human activity and not something exciting.

Only then did he finally realize that they had stopped walking. They were facing the fountain, the center of the park, where many new couples came to make wishes. The vibrant colors of the sky were reflected off the water in the fountain, casting a mystic glow on Yuuma. She removed her hand from his, taking a coupled steps back towards the dancing colors of the fountain, and smiled."There's something I'd like to celebrate our first date. Will you listen to my wish?"

"Of course!" Oh man, this was the part where couples usually kissed, right? He had never been in any relationship before, much to his parents' discontent, and the fact that he had doubts irked him. Whatever, he could wing it. Still, the thought lingered that she could ask him for something more... mature. As inexperienced as he was with humans, anything on that level could be beyond even him.

She took a step forward. Issei knew she was grinning, though the nature of that went unaware. She took another step, leaning in towards his ear. His heart was pounding now, eager and nervous for his first kiss. "Will you die for me?"

The world came crashing down. Did she just ask him to die? "W-what?" He was shocked, totally floored that the date had taken such a turn and he hadn't seen it coming at all! His instincts were screaming at him the entire time, and he refused to listen.

Maybe it was a joke, yeah, just her twisted sense of humor. After laughing, she'd clear everything up, and they'd go their separate ways without any hassle. She was eye level with him now, a foot away from his face. Then, he heard a telltale giggle that turned quickly into a full blown laugh. Only it wasn't humored, it was dark, condescending.

"Will you die for me?" She had played him. Flawlessly, she had lured him into her trap, though why she did so was unknown, then brought him here to kill him. Well, it was a good thing Issei knew she'd get more than she expected, 'cause he sure as hell wouldn't go down without a fight.

She leaped backwards, covering a superhuman amount of distance, then two raven-like wings burst from her shoulders, suspending her above the fountain. Her clothes had changed now, being ripped from her body as she was covered with leathery black strips. She had grown a few inches too. It gave Issei the impression of an exotic demon, and the wings only made her less human. Whatever she was, it explained why she didn't smell human at all, and he hadn't figured it out all this time.

"You're an idiot aren't you," her laughter had turned maniacal, all semblance of that innocent schoolgirl tone gone. "To think you knew something was wrong with me the entire time yet did nothing!" He had to give her credit, she was an impressive actress. And he knew a thing or two about how tough it was to fool others and appear normal.

Light gathered in front of her, forming into a blue spear almost as tall as she was. 'Holy magic,' his mind supplied without hesitation. 'Heh, its a good thing I'm a dragon and not a devil.' Wait, what? He thought the memories had stopped months ago! It seemed, however, that there was apparently a hidden world, one which he had just become a part of, whether he liked it or not. He didn't even bother to question why the word 'dragon' had popped into his head.

"Oh, you've figured it out now? That's right, I'm a fallen angel, here to kill you because God placed that sacred gear in you. Don't want any threats walking around now do we?" She chuckled again, savoring how her plan came together.

She pointed the light spear at him, aiming at his stomach. Then, she thew it.

'Shit!' In a fraction of a second, his mind had registered where it was going to hit him, and he dove right. He cried out in pain as warm blood spilled out all over his body. It had hit him in the side. The burn was intense but manageable, he could still stand. His previously red shirt did little to hid the crimson pouring from the wound, and the hand placed around the spear couldn't hope to stop the flow. After it dissolved into millions of light particles the bleeding only worsened.

He was going to die today.

"Nice try," the fallen said, walking closer until she was standing a few feet in front of Issei. In desperation, he through a punch, much stronger than the average human's. She caught it effortlessly, then twisted his wrist until he withdrew. "This time I won't miss."

Another spear formed, aimed point blank at Issei's stomach. As soon as he saw the spear inches from his body, he twisted away, but he wasn't fast enough.

In one swift motion, Yuuma ran him through the midsection. He coughed up blood, splattering it on the ground. Seeing her work was done, Yumma flew away and left Issei clutching at his wound.

'Red...' He fell to his side, the warm pool of fluid squelching beneath. 'How ironic that the Red Dragon Emperor is coated in scarlet blood.'

An attempt at a chuckle only made him cough up more blood. 'I was almost free... now it looks like I might die...' He had lived so long, conquered so many obstacles, and yet here he would die, as a young teen whose whole life was ahead of him.

'Ddraig... that was my name...' The memories came back to him. He was a heavenly dragon, the Red Dragon Emperor. Now, he would be nothing, his life taken by a lowly footsoldier of the fallen ones before he could break free from the sacred gear.

He never got the chance he so badly wanted... For the first time, he was not in control of his fate, and it hurt. Neither Issei nor Ddraig could stand to lay down and die.

'Please... someone...' He desperately tried to reach a hand out as his eyes closed. 'Save me...' All of his energy, magical and otherwise searched for a last ditch effort.

'I... can't... die... yet...'

"You are the one who summoned me?"

He heard something. 'A... voice?'

"If that is your wish then so be it. From now, you will live for me."

.

AN: Thanks for reading! Please review, and if anyone who writes is thinking about using anything from this, pm me!


	2. Chapter 2

AN: So, I'm doing a second chapter... whoohoo!

This doesn't mean that there'll be more chapters though. I'd rather someone else take this as a challenge and post their own, somewhat similar story.

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Ch 2: Overkill

'Everything is perfect,' Issei thought as he awoke with a yawn. Five minutes before his alarm too; that was the best feeling! The sun was shining through his window, the birds were chirping, and he felt far better than ever before. 'Man, this is the life...' He sighed happily, placing his hands behind his head as he breathed in the crisp morning air, the telltale scents of spring wafting into his room through the open door. No worries, no problems. No stupid white dragon to bicker with and no sacred gear to be sealed within.

The headache that those tantalizing memories had caused for the past few years was no longer. Nothing was hidden from him anymore, and the relief was indescribable. Now, he had no reason to be all angsty, none at all. He didn't care what his place was in the world, just that it was _his._ He was both Issei and Ddraig, an awkward high school student and a legendary dragon. In all honesty, if it didn't feel so natural to him, he would have laughed at how ridiculous it sounded. His date the night before wasn't even in the forefront of his mind, since a low-class fallen angel wasn't a threat worth considering. Although his power took a severe dive and would spend years recovering, his ego hadn't diminished at all. He'd be damned if he let a single fallen get him riled up.

As he lay there in complete content, glad he was who he was, he figured that school wasn't too essential at this point either. He _was_ a dragon, after all, so he was completely aware that he knew everything he had to in order to thrive in the supernatural world. Besides, who was stupid enough to make a heavenly dragon go to a human school?

"Hyoudou Issei! You get downstairs right this second!" Oh, right... his parents. While his dad probably left for the office already, his mom was in charge of making sure he didn't fall back asleep after his alarm. It was a far more challenging job than it seemed.

Issei wasn't too upset as he donned his clothes for Kuoh Academy. Hey, if nothing else, the student body of the school was definitely not an eyesore. As Ddraig, he had liked to think of himself as quite the womanizer, and as Issei he was a hormonal teen. While he may not have been too eager to find a mate (or at least a love interest) earlier, things were a little different now. He didn't have all that pesky mental confusion to cloud his head.

"What's got you so happy?" His mom was used to his grumpy mornings back when he didn't enjoy school.

He shrugged. "Kuoh can't be too bad today. It's better than staying locked in a room for eternity." As strange as the comment was, his parents were used to it by now. Came with his odd situation.

As he walked by his mother, she rolled her eyes. "I won't ask." When she spied her son's face, however, her weary sarcasm changed to fresh interest. "Since when were your eyes green?"

"Ehh? They are?" Well, all things considered, that was a rather minor change."I guess they've always been green." Though he had brown eyes as Issei, he was more familiar with his appearance as Ddraig since he was in that form for thousands more years. It still was weird that any part of his appearance had changed.

"Of course they have," his mom relented, not even caring at this point. Once she thought that her son was back to normal, he'd find a way to unpleasantly surprise her again. "Have fun at school, Issei-kun."

The dragonish teen grinned. "I will."

.

He met up with Matsuda and Motohama before school. Shockingly, they were outside, watching the crowds of students and picking out all the girls that tickled their fancy. Fortunately for Issei, the locker rooms wouldn't be in use until lunch, so the peeping prospects were low enough that the two would hold a civil conversation. As Issei approached the two of them, he noticed that a certain redhead was watching him from across school grounds. 'Rias Gremory... what would a devil of her status be doing in a human school?' As far back as he could recall, her family was far too noble and important to send their children to a human school. Well, whatever, devils were a strange bunch.

"Ah, Issei," Motohama greeted. "Have you finally accepted your natural urges?" It was a dumb question and the glasses-wearing geek knew it.

"Wholeheartedly," Issei replied with a wide grin, getting his buddies' hopes up. "Just not the ones that force me to peep on girls."

Matsuda nearly cried. "Come on man! That aint't cool."

"Women aren't objects to leer at. You gotta talk with them to find what you're looking for." He wouldn't want a weak mate. Not weak in power but in character. Their eyes were wide with thoughts of blasphemy. "Ehh, I don't mean find ugly chicks, jeez! Look, just trust me here."

"Trust you!" The perverted badly exclaimed. "You've never even had a girlfriend!"

'Strange...' He supposed it was only fitting that Yuuma altered their minds. "Whatever, I've totally had one."

"Not in a thousand years," Motohama declared. "You don't have enough respect for the female body."

"Here, I'll prove it you bastards." He pulled out his phone and checked the contacts. No way, she erased her contact information too! There was no need to be so thorough; all he wanted to do was prove his hopeless friends wrong! "Damn, I lost her number..."

Their relieved sighs were short lived. "Oh snap!" Matsuda exclaimed, pointing off in the distance.

Motohama adjusted his glasses. "Oh snap indeed, my friend. That's Rias Gremory, the exotic foreign exchange student from northern Europe."

"A foreign beauty if I've ever seen one!"

Issei shrugged. "She's got quite a rack."

"Understatement of the century," his glasses-wearing buddy said. "There's a reason they call her Onee-sama, and it isn't just her grades."

It helped that she was a devil... they always got all the attention. Poor dragons like him were always avoided and praised for their strength, but they never had the same reverence as strong devils. Man, and now that he was starting all over, he had to be cautious about Rias? Screw that. "I think she's looking at me."

"Hah, you?" Matsuda laughed.

Issei stuck his tongue out. "Like your baldness is attractive." Boy was he glad to have friends this time around, ignoring the fact that they were complete pervs.

As the three got into insults and banter in the ways they always have since middle school, Issei let his mind wander. Who was he: Ddraig or Issei? Although he looked like Issei and called himself that in his own mind, he couldn't help but wonder what he would become a month from now, or a year. He may not have had the large dragon form he was accustomed to as a heavenly dragon, but he knew it would come back as he regained his power. Hopefully, he could become a legend in his own right.

'Life is good,' he decided.

.

Only later that day did he regret that. Rias had taken far too much of an interest in him. Whenever the wind blew towards him, he would catch her faint scent, registering that she was sometimes following him. And he had a sinking suspicion why. At first, he attributed the odd sensations wracking his energy signature as the assimilation of his dragon self, a action that had no precedent for him to compare to. It was later that he began noticing irregularities: an inclination to stay up late, near perfect night vision (not even dragons had that), and slightly better hearing.

 _"From now on, you will live for me."_ Those words... The more he focused on that night with Yuuma, the more he remembered a voice saying something about a wish. He was dead, or dying at least, and now he wasn't. Something happened.

People didn't just come back from the dead, and his life force hadn't recovered enough to give him a heavenly dragon's regenerative and resilient properties.

As he returned to the park he had taken his date to on Sunday, nostalgia overwhelmed him. He wasn't mad at her and was instead more focused on how he changed. 'Yuuma, what have you done? _'_ She had no idea what she had started. Not even Issei himself was sure what the future held.

Ah, how this night was so similar to the one he was 'killed' on.

A shiver vibrated through his body. 'Someone's there?' From the shadows, a silhouetted man stepped onto the paved path. It wasn't difficult with his newfound ability to spot the fedora and trench coat he wore. There were also the two feathered wings.

"This is a rare occasion. How unfortunate to meet someone like you in a place like this. Unfortunate for you, that is." Man, this guy sounded insanely cocky. As a dragon, he was all too eager to show this fallen that he should _never_ be underestimated, no matter how weakened.

Issei grinned. After all these years, he finally got the chance to stretch his legs. It was time to see if he had regained any of his former strength. "I couldn't be happier to give one of you bird-guys a beatdown."

"I'll assume from your demeanor and lack of a master that you're a stray. How lucky for me, that I get to put you in your place."

"A stray?" As in, of the devil variety? Come to think of it, he was saved, and the only surefire and common way that one could do that was through the evil pieces. Wait, now wasn't the time to let his mind wander. "I like to think of myself as a dragon." He pointed his thumb at his chest proudly.

"Hmph, you amuse me." The fallen angel began walking slowly towards him, forming a blue spear of light in his hand.

"The last one of you guys may have got me, but I'm better now," Issei warned.

The man outright laughed. "So you're the one Raynare took out without injury!? Come to think of it, she did mention a poor schmuck that fits your description. How you are alive and a devil is beyond me, but let's change that." He took to the sky, soaring over Issei as he waiting until he was directly over the teen,

"Boost!" Issei cried, as the fallen threw the light spear.

In a flash, a loud explosion brought its musical sounds to the man's ears, a smirk beginning to form on his face. Though the debris and dust obscured Issei, he was sure that the teen had in no way survived the attack. As the excitement died down, the fallen couldn't believe what he was seeing.

Covered in dust, but still clearly alive and vital was Issei, his emerald eyes glinting with power. To the right of him was a small impact crater a few meters in diameter where the spear had hit, and he had dodged it just in time. He had an eerie red glow about him, and his eyes were a far brighter green that seemed unnatural.

"Boost," the brunette said again, the aura growing stronger, pulsing with energy. "This is quite nostalgic, you know, to not have the restrictions on doubling my power." Immediately, he grinned and added, "Boost." He didn't have to say it out loud either, but he supposed that it was cooler than flat-out obliterating his opponent without indication or warning, as he used to do.

"T-that's not possible!" The fallen stammered. "The only thing that can do that is the Boosted Gear." He calmed down quickly, however, chuckling. "No, of course. It's some kind of clever trick." Devils were always fans of deception. "Well, then, I'll have to make sure I hit you next time."

"Boost."

"You're not fooling me, kid," the black-winged angel taunted, materializing another spear.

"Boost."

The raven-winged man hurled it much faster this time. "Take this!" It was most of his power, and at this speed there was little chance to dodge it. Not even if those boosts were real.

The explosion was three times the size, engulfing the both of them and ultimately blowing the fallen further into the sky, his hat billowing off from the force of the blast. With an annoyed look, he turned his attention from the battle and landed deftly on his feet, returning the cap to its rightful place. "Reasons like this are why I hate low-class beings. All bark and no bite," he sighed, hoping that could have received a real challenge.

"Boost."

No way! There was no way the kid survived a direct impact! Emerging from the rubble, a slightly battered Issei was dusting off his Kuoh uniform. His face, though covered in dirt, looked to be only slightly beaten, and a few cuts lined his skin. "Ehh, you got me all dirty," he moaned, knowing his parents would be mortified. "They already think I'm weird enough, you know!"

"How did you-!?" A new devil who couldn't even scratch Raynare should never be able to resist any form of light at all. Even close proximity to his light spear should have been enough to cause major damage.

"Boost," he casually inserted, feeling that red aura flare up again. This time, though, the fallen was sweating under the pressure of the magic.

'W-what is this?'

"I deflected it. It hurt like hell, and my hand's burnt, so don't act like it was nothing!" Come to think of it, the boy's left hand was a darkening blue and hung limply at his side. So, it appeared that a devil's fatal weakness to light was nowhere near as fatal as he previously thought. But that only applied to mid-class and above. There was no way that he'd become mid-class in a day! "Boost."

"Damn!" The man tried another spear, chucking it wantonly at his opponent, barely even aiming.

With the swat of his injured hand, Issei directed it to a tree, shattering it into splinters. Still, he winced in pain. This new vulnerability to light was going to be such a chore. "Boost, boost, boost."

The fallen couldn't let him stand there and do whatever that was (since he still doubted it doubled power), so he threw another spear. This one had nowhere near the power of the last two and was easily dodged.

"Boost." Issei's aura was truly terrifying now, and the fallen was almost brought to his knees with the sheer oppressive quality of it.

He threw another spear. Harmlessly deflected.

"Boost." Something was happening. Issei's eyes were thin slits, like those of a predator. His skin was flaking slightly in some places, resembling scales.

It was hopeless! The fallen bit back a pained cry as he backed up, eyes wide. Desperately, he threw another spear that landed at Issei's feet. The brunette stepped over it.

"Boost." The teen smiled, his teeth more like a predator than a human.

It was over. Issei was now standing inches from him. Although the fallen had the capability to summon more attacks, it was pointless. Instead, he tried pushing Issei away, only the much smaller teen felt no resistance.

"I hope that was enough." In an instant, the fallen felt all of the raging ambient energy around Issei disappear. No, it wasn't gone, just gathered entirely around his unmarred right hand, as he balled it into a fist.

"Explosion." As he smashed his fist into his enemy, a blinding red light burst from the place of impact.

 _BOOOOOM!_ The sphere engulfed everything around them, tearing up the ground and uprooting trees. Inside, the fallen angel yelled in agony, writhing at the sensation of bis body being torn apart and disintegrated. Issei heard a loud _crack_ amidst all the chaos, and pain flared up in his hand as all the bones shattered. Even after, the pure force of the blast swept Issei off his feet, tossing him back a hundred yards from the blast zone.

'I destroyed half the park!' He gasped as he finally escaped the destruction, thrown through the air like a ragdoll. Nothing remained except a desolate semi-sphere imprint on the earth. Not even a feather.

He didn't much time to think about that. No, less than a second later, he felt a sharp pain in his back. His body coughed out blood as his speed had sent him crashing through a tree, landing him on the unforgiving, solid ground. Blood was leaking from his mouth, and his body was on fire, his innate draconic energy barely keeping him alive. As he lay there, his features returned to normal.

Breathing was impossible. He lied there, again feeling disfigured and helpless, far too close to the land of the dead. He was given a second change at this new existence, and he had almost ruined it! 'I won't die now...' he said, though it was almost a plea in his head. 'I'm a dragon... I've had worse.' No matter how downgraded he was, he still had that miraculous resilience and healing dragons were revered for.

It was okay... He just needed to rest first.

Everything was going to be fine...

A smile worked its way onto his face as his eyes closed.

.

Just as Issei's eyes closed, a red magic circle bearing a familiar crest appeared on the outskirts of the immense crater. The figures, all female, materialized from the crimson glow. Rias Gremory was shocked. She had felt a fallen angel's signature here, coupled by something she couldn't identify, but neither of those observations prepared her for this. She was called the Princess of Destruction, but this? This was something else.

"What happened here?" She wondered on the behalf of everyone there. She wasn't worried, nor was she unnerved by the sight, just baffled by such a complete and seemingly pointless display of power.

"Ara ara," her servant with long, luscious black hair chuckled. "This is very interesting."

The smallest girl, Koneko, who was comically flat in the chest compared to the other two, pointed into the woods, where a tree had snapped in half. "Issei-senpai is over there."

"Issei?" Rias hummed. "I have to make sure he's okay. He _is_ my responsibility now, after all." Without waiting a second, she dashed off, blood-red hair flowing behind her.

"Oh, so he's your's, hmm?" Her black haired best friend, Akeno, replied, catching up. "If he's the one that caused this scene, you might have a rival on your hands." She giggled placing her hand on her cheek as she smiled, tauntingly, at her master.

Rias huffed. "Please. He is my servant, so he belongs to me." Issei definitely wasn't sore on the eyes, and the prospect of Issei's involvement excited her just as much as Akeno.

"Fufufufu, you know I love a good challenge." The two glared at each other, Rias with minor anger and Akeno with a friendly smirk.

"There." The petite white-haired devil interrupted them, redirecting them towards a beaten body on the ground wearing what seemed to be the shredded remnants of Kuoh Academy's uniform. His messy brown hair was a sure signal that it was Issei.

Rias had no need to place her ear to his chest, easily able to detect the teen's strong and rhythmic heartbeat with enhanced hearing. "He's alive... I was worried."

"Oh my, He doesn't look to be in good shape at all," Akeno frowned.

The redhead agreed. "He's alive somehow, but his body has taken a beating, almost too much to heal on his own. I suspect he was caught in the destruction of the park."

"We won't learn what happened until he wakes up," Koneko pointed out.

Rias smiled. "No, you're right. I'll take care of this then and heal our newest servant." She picked up Issei's body without much effort and disappeared into a magic circle.

.

Issei didn't want to wake up, not in the middle of this dream. Why? Because he was accomplishing the two things he always wanted to do with his life, finding a suitable mate and beating the tar out of his rival. It was beautiful, watching the prideful, pompous white dragon getting thrown around like nobody's business. And the bed was like he was floating on clouds. If dragons could experience heaven, this was probably what it would be like. Ah, if only life was this perfect.

When he woke up, it was more like coming down from a high than being reintroduced to reality. He was sore and tired, and he felt _wrong_. 'Screw this,' he decided quickly, trying to grab a handful of pillow to shove back into his face. What he did grab was far more squishy and fleshy than a pillow should ever be. It wasn't bad, though, and the room smelled nice, soothing. Kind of like strawberries.

Mind addled by sleep, he closed his eyes again, pulling the pillow-like things closer.

He heard a very sexual moan.

"Wait what!?" He bolted into seated position, completely awake, throwing the covers off him. "Ah!" He recovered himself immediately in embarrassment. He was in the nude! Why? His parents lived here, and he wasn't in dragon form at the moment, so it wasn't socially acceptable! 'Wait, how the hell did I even get naked in the first place!'

He scoured the room for any sign of what happened, then his eyes settled on a rather pleasant sight next to him. Rias Gremory. Naked. And he had groped her rather well-formed tits! 'Please don't let this be the pervs rubbing off on me!' He wasn't awake when he grabbed them; he didn't know!

"Good morning, Ise." She was awake! And way too happy.

"AAAAHHHH! I swear, I didn't do anything! I've got a strict code on not mating with random strangers." He was startled enough to replace 'sex' with 'mate,' and he never mixed dragon lingo with human speech ever in his life! "Wait, nothing happened, right?"

Rias was totally far too amused by this. "No, nothing happened. Though, I must say that you look very enticing." She eyes his lean figure with very obvious muscles hungrily. "And you plenty equipped where it counts. I wouldn't mind 'mating' with you, as you put it."

Issei was blushing now. Between horny teen and slightly less horny dragon, he was not in any sort of shape to be completely composed. Hormones hit hard, and they were ruthless. Finding a mate was totally not supposed to be on his list for today! Not until he at least got used to his strength and identity, at least. His instincts were out of whack too.

"So the composed and serious Issei-san I always saw at school isn't the same anymore?" Rias teased.

"No! I was a gloomy teenager, and now I figured out what was missing," he rushed the response a bit, but he didn't want to spill everything. And that's not to mention the awkward situation. "But I'm not screwing you, so can I put some clothes on!" Wait, why was he asking? He pulled the covers off and kept the important bits hidden as he ran to the drawer and slipped on a pair of underwear. "Why were we naked anyway?"

She sighed, bummed that he wasn't indulging her any more. "I had to heal you after last night-"

"Heal me!" Issei interrupted. "While I'm not complaining, why didn't you let me heal naturally. I was fine. None of that leads to us sleeping together, naked."

Rias let her slight annoyance show. "Devils can heal other devils with skinship. After I healed you, I wanted to make sure that you were recovered, so I stayed over."

"And slept naked," he finished.

She nodded. "I can't sleep with clothes on, and you were so cute lying there. You remember what happened, correct?"

"Oh that... Well..." How much did he explain to her, if any? Did he owe her anything? Well, his life was kind of important, and that wasn't a debt easily repaid, even if it was one third the devils' fault for his imprisonment in the first place. "Yeah, I remember."

Okay, she was definitely expecting him to elaborate. "I guess it's kind of complicated," he admitted. "I'm not exactly the best judge of power, you see." That was Albion's job. All he did was boost until his enemy was hopeless, but now it seemed that fighting like that would be dumb considering he had to take his human body into account. Oops, devil body. "Yeah, so I released too much power for a small fight against a fallen angel, and my body couldn't handle it."

Rias was astounded, even by this simple explanation. "What kind of power?" Was it some kind of balance breaker that Issei had already reached on his sacred gear? It certainly wasn't his devil magic, since she had kept that in check.

"This is going to sound sorta unbelievable and pretty stupid, but hiding it around my new master would be a waste of energy." Rias was floored once again. Issei suddenly grew serious. "I know I'm a devil now, and you're the one who saved me, Rias Gremory. I am incredibly thankful, but know that I am not yours to command at whim. May I ask why you saved me that night with Yuuma... sorry, Raynare." That was what the other fallen had called her, just another thing she had fooled him about.

She crossed her arms over her bare chest. "I suspected that you might have a sacred gear."

Issei smirked. "Well, I did. The Boosted Gear."

"That's one of the thirteen longinus!" So, that was how he was able to cause such devastation. Still, why did he use the word 'did?' Was it gone now? "It's gone now? Explain."

He shrugged. "When God created the sacred gear system, he screwed up badly. Gears that had powerful beings couldn't contain them forever."

"Wait, you're saying that the Red Dragon Emperor sealed within your boosted gear escaped?" That could spell disaster for all three factions. Even when all three were at their peak power, defeating the two heavenly dragons had cost hundreds of lives and required the powers of God and all four Satans. If he wanted revenge... she had to inform her brother. No, something didn't add up. "If that is true... then where did the power you used last night come from?"

"That's where it gets complicated. The dragon couldn't fully break free from the sacred gear, since it's bound to the soul of its host." Issei's predatory green eyes locked with Rias's blue ones, and he grinned. "As much as I am Issei, I am also Ddraig."

.

AN: So, this is a short chapter. Unlike my other story, these chapters will be short, just so I can test it out. Issei's ability to boost has no time limit, as with Ddraig, and he has no physical limit on boost numbers. However, he gets physical backlash if he pushes too hard. There will also be some changes that will become apparent in next chapter.

Issei won't curbstomp everyone. Nor will he have the exact same powers of canon minus the cool-looking sacred gear. He will actually have to figure out how to use them too. As you saw here, his first attempt went poorly, and he will have to train himself intensely to reach a state remotely close to Ddraig.


	3. Chapter 3

AN: There's a recent poll on which of my stories you guys want me to pay more attention to.

Funny comment: I've gotten a flame each chapter from guest 'rias hater'. Shoutout to you for coming back to and reading a story you don't like for whatever reason.

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Ch 3: It's Complicated

"You mean to tell me," Rias began, completely blown away by Issei's proclamation, "that Ddraig, the Red Dragon Emperor, has fused completely with your personality and being?" He easily could spot the disbelief on her face. Certainly, it wasn't ever even considered as an outcome of the sacred gear system. The mere idea that it could fuse the sealed being with the host was never thought of, and Rias had barely come to terms with the fact that Issei claimed that such a thing happened. There was, as honest as Issei seemed, just no way she could believe that without proof.

He rubbed his head self-consciously at how Rias thought he was plain ridiculous. "My existence isn't that weird, is it?'

"It's hard to believe that a relatively normal high school student is actually a millennia-old dragon. You're one of a kind, that's for sure." Rias sighed. "My brother will throw a fit if this is true." No doubt, there would be chaos if all the sealed legendary beings managed to escape. No one wanted to see another fight between the two Heavenly Dragons, and there were other things out that could cause nearly the same destruction.

Issei glanced away. "I'd rather you not tell anyone else. I know hiding this from you would've been dumb... but I. I." Why couldn't he just say it? He hung his head in shame and let out a long breath. "I'm really weak right now..."

He felt a warm hand on his cheek, and immediately looked up. The redhead had a small smile, making the teen kind of confused. "I understand completely. The way you are right now, you won't be able to fend off everyone who desires the power of the Red Dragon Emperor. I promise to try to protect you from that, you are my servant after all, but I can only do so much. There are many that I have no hope of defeating." That final sentence seemed to wipe the smile off her face, and there was clearly a second meaning. But he didn't care about that right now.

Relief flooded through him. Dragons were incredibly prideful, far more so than other races, and admitting something like that was humiliating. At least she didn't mock him for it, and he honestly hoped it would never be mentioned again. "That means your peerage too. No one can know. Not until my strength comes back."

She crossed her arms, somewhat offended. "I don't want to hide things from them. They're like family," she argued. "Besides, I still don't have any evidence you're telling the truth."

Evidence? What, did she want him to boost a bunch, just so he could get himself hurt again? He threw his arms up. "I don't know! Ask me a question about dragons or something!"

She rolled her eyes. "What about the boosted gear? Do you still have it?"

"Yeah, it was sealed within me, so of course I've got it." Issei's left arm glowed red for a second before it was covered with a draconic red gauntlet. It was metallic in nature, covering from his fingers to his elbow. The metal covering his fingers mimicked claws, and yellow spikes added a fierce quality to its appearance. The most noticeable feature was that the giant emerald-like gem on his hand was lifeless, an incredibly dull dark green.

The redhead seemed surprised that he actually wasn't lying, recognizing the sacred gear. "It's useless now, and I'm a terrible actor. I couldn't pretend to fight with this clunky piece of metal without looking like an idiot."

"So what do you propose I tell others then when they ask about you?"

Issei shrugged. "Tell them I'm a humanoid dragon or whatever. It's kind of the truth."

Though Rias tried to seem pleased with his idea, Issei noticed her reluctance. "It's a fine idea. I don't like it though, lying to my servants. I wish there was a better way to get you to trust me."

"I do," Issei insisted. "Trust you, I mean. The Gremory family has good rep, so I'm not worried you'll throw me to the dogs."

Rias was about to reply when a loud voice echoed through the house. It was, as usual, his mom. "ISSEI! This is the second day this week you're going to be late to school! And here I thought you were done complain..." She had opened the door to see the two lying in bed. "A naked foreigner?" Her face lit up. "Oh I'm so glad you finally found a girlfriend to set you straight! We thought you were hopeless!" Were those really tears running down her face?

"Jeez, thanks Okaa-chan," Issei grumbled.

Rias smiled. "Your son is very kind, Okaa-sama." Wasn't it too soon for Rias to call her that!?

"Did you guys... you know," his mother tried to say, abashed, "have sex?"

"What! No!" Issei denied vehemently. "She's not my mate! I've known her for like twenty minutes."

That only make her smirk. Right then, he knew that she was never going to let this go. "I have to go tell Otou-san!" She scrambled out of the room, but the moment Issei breathed a sigh of relief, she returned. He almost jumped when he heard her voice again. "Be down for breakfast in ten minutes." Thankfully, she left for real after that.

Rias stood up again and stretched, her plush breasts bouncing up and down. "Your house is quite lively in the morning."

"Yeah. Normally they're just mad that I won't go to school," Issei replied, sighing some more.

.

Breakfast was awkward. Both his parents were staring intently at him, trying to discern whether he had changed at all. Clearly, he was no less embarrassed by them, but they noticed much less angst and protest in his demeanor and tone. Then there was the extremely attractive foreigner sitting next to him, polite and well mannered. She even drank her miso with poise, something they tried to teach Issei for years before they gave up.

"Uhh." Issei wasn't sure what to say to break the silence. He wanted to tell them everything. They were his parents after all, yet he just couldn't outright say it.

"So, Issei," his father began, "who is this woman you were having sex with?"

'I didn't do anything,' Issei whined. How come they couldn't believe him? The evidence was clearly against him in this, but when before had he suggested that he'd ever sleep with a woman. Hell, he'd never really had a girlfriend, even when he was Ddraig!

Rias quickly bowed, contrite. "I apologize for not introducing myself. It shames my household. Otou-san, Okaa-san, my name is Rias Gremory, a third year that attends the same school as Issei-kun. It is a pleasure to meet you. Don't worry, we are just friends, and nothing inappropriate took place last night." Oh, so it was Issei-kun now?

"That's nice," his dad replied, as if in a daze. "He's been antisocial all his life, so I'm glad you're his friend."

Issei called bullshit. There was no way he'd believe that with so little convincing. He glanced over at Rias.

The redhead smiled. "I am happy to be Issei-kun's friend as well. I sleep naked with all my friends, you see." She leaned over and whispered in Issei's ear. "I'm sorry for using my power on them to prevent the situation from getting out of control."

Power? Right, devils had small illusionary abilities capable of altering perceptions. After so many years, these small details kept slipping his mind. "You mean you're controlling them?" Issei confirmed. "Stop that, now!"

"What?" Rias seemed shocked that he didn't want her help getting out of this bind.

He slammed his fist on the table, glaring at her. "They aren't to be messed with by you or anyone! I don't care if you're my kind master or not."

His mom was swaying side to side, loopy. "I don't feel messed with."

Rias knew better than to anger him now. "Alright, I'll stop." The two adults went back to normal, his father gripping the table to steady himself. "But it's up to you to clear this up."

Issei sighed. It was better that they know the truth, since he could count on them to support him in his new life. "Okaa-san, Otou-san, Rias is actually a devil, and I'm kind of the reincarnation of a dragon." This was going to take a ton of explanation.

He definitely was showing up late to school today.

.

After an hour of baffling his parents and insisting that they could still call him Issei despite the fact he was also Ddraig, he finally left for school. Rias walked with him all the way there, and her sneaky devil connections got him off scot-free. Most people didn't bother with the fact that he showed up late anyway, seeing how he'd done it plenty of other times before. Today, though, he was much more interested in school than normal, and he couldn't figure out why. He was also quite eager to meet the other members of Rias's peerage near the end of the day.

Although he wasn't too elated that he was turned into a devil, a species he knew to be legitimately inferior to heavenly dragons, there were plenty of things to look forward to. For one, he still had that second chance. This morning had helped him discover exactly what he was going to use it for. Other than the implied beat-down on Albion, he was going to finally find a mate and settle down. That was something he was sorely missing in his previous, battle-crazed, overconfident male dragon years. Without all those traits in abundance, it only made sense to find someone he liked. With this nifty human form, they didn't even have to be a dragon (female dragons were notoriously hard to get).

As he sat in his final class, his daydreams were interrupted by 'oohs' and 'aahs.' That could only mean one thing. "Oh great, it's the prince." That guy was seven levels way too idolized by the female population of Kuoh for his stunningly princely looks. Long blond hair, flawless skin, a bishounen by all definitions. Issei wasn't Yuuto Kiba's biggest fan, but he didn't hate the guy nearly as much as the two fuming perverts sitting next to him. They were busy mumbling about how he was stealing all the hot chicks.

"Have some respect Issei-san!" Someone threw a pencil at his head. Murayama, perhaps? "I'm so sorry the room's this dirty, Kiba-kun."

The prince chuckled politely. "Hey everyone. I'm here for Hyoudou Issei-san."

He knew this guy smelled like a devil. So, this was the person Rias sent to fetch him, huh? "This is for Rias-senpai, right?"

Kiba nodded. "I was sent to guide you to the old school building." With that, Issei bounded out of the classroom, rather happy to escape the rest of the lesson. As they left, protests followed them out, distraught girls calling for their 'Kiba-kun.'

The journey over was awkward as hell for Issei. Kiba had a small smile on his lips as he walked alongside the newly reincarnated devil, but he never said a word. Not a single one. However strange it was to not be acknowledged as the most important one in the room, Issei knew he had to accept that Kiba just didn't feel like talking.

The old school building fit the title exactly. If the new building's architecture was outdated, this one looked straight up ancient. Stone bricks, tiny dark hallways lit by candles. He already felt like part of some freaky devil ritual, and that was before they even got to the occult part of the Occult Research Club.

"Here we are," Kiba said, opening the door for Issei. Was he making a conscious effort to always be so gentlemanly, or was that just who he was?

'I hope the rest of them aren't like this,' Issei moaned. He couldn't endure overly polite males like Albion. 'I swear if they're all guys...'

Luckily, that wasn't the case. Sitting on the couch was the adorable first year Koneko Toujou, called the school mascot for her cuteness. She reminded him of a cat, or rather a nekomata, considering the white hair and her name, which literally meant 'kitten.' Issei had heard that her personality countered her youthful, almost childish, looks. As in, she had no emotions whatsoever. It was hard to believe someone like her would be a devil. "This is Hyoudo Issei-san," Kiba introduced.

"Hey. Nice to meet you," Koneko replied evenly between bites of sweets. Wow, they weren't kidding with the 'no emotion' deal. Well, it wasn't any of his business why she got that way, and he wasn't too fond of fretting over the past anyway.

Issei frowned. "Where's Rias-senpai?"

"Shower," the girl replied, pointing.

Only then did Issei notice something off. There was a steady pouring of water, and he hadn't bothered to think about it until now. There was a freaking shower in the clubroom, and Rias was naked inside it! What kind of weird anti-clothes movement was she a part of!? As hot as that was, it made absolutely no sense.

"Here you go, Buchou." Ah, there was someone else there handing Rias a towel.

He'd recognize that large-chested woman with long back hair anywhere. Akeno Himejima was, after all, one of the Two Great Sisters of the school, held in the same light as Rias. That she was a devil too wasn't much of a surprise, seeing how she smelled like one. Ever since that night, he was able to tell exactly who was a devil and who was not, so he expected more people in the clubroom since there were at least 10 devils at the school. Perhaps they were out doing devil things?

"Thanks Akeno."

Was she a reincarnated fallen angel? He could smell the signature bird-like quality, however faint it was. A polite guy, emotionless cat chick, a fallen angel, and a heavenly dragon... this was definitely a unique peerage, and that probably wasn't all the people in it.

"Ara ara," Akeno chuckled, "nice to see you again Issei-kun, I'm Himejima Akeno." She walked up to him, leaning towards his ear. "Between you and me, that scene at the park was _very_ impressive." She giggled a little, a creepy look on her face.

'She's a total sadist!' Issei exclaimed inwardly. 'Oh man...' He never really had a problem with sadists as they were unusual with dragons. But here he was, way out of his element and blushing up a storm while trying not to look terrified. He took a calming breath and rubbed his head, embarrassed. "I guess I went a little overboard, huh?"

"Akeno, there's no need to tease him." Rias had stepped out of the shower, her hair still wet. At least she wasn't nude this time, instead wearing the Kuoh Academy uniform. Not that he would have minded another glimpse at her spectacular form. Unlike Albion, he had a preference for good-looking chests, something that Rias fit perfectly. Of course, he wasn't going to be a pervert about it.

Akeno pouted, stepping away. "Aww, but that ruins the fun."

"I'm sorry for keeping you waiting. I know it's terribly rude, but I didn't get a chance to wash after leaving your place."

"As weird as it is, I'm cool with it." What teen in their right mind wouldn't appreciate naked women in their clubroom? Especially a beauty like her. Rias took a seat on the couch across from Koneko. Issei suddenly felt awkward, still standing next to Kiba. "So, where's the rest of the peerage, Rias-senpai?"

"Rest?" She replied with a glare, irked. He never meant to offend her with that... "Aside from a bishop who is currently elsewhere, this _is_ my peerage."

That was strange. Normally, there was only one high-class devil in a given area in a human world. If there were others, and he knew there were, then they had to be either free devils or servants of another high-class. "But aren't there other devils at the school?"

"You're able to detect devils?" Kiba asked curiously.

"Yeah," Issei nodded, "you guys smell like... kind of like sour bats." Okay, describing smells with human words was basically impossible. Things just were, and there was no way to explain how.

"I'm not sure what to think about that," Kiba hmmed, an amused smile on his face. Koneko seemed about to reply as well, but she settled for staying quiet and eating her sweets.

Rias sighed. "Back to the matter at hand. The student council members are all servants of another high-class devil. You will likely meet her sometime soon. Now then, we the Occult Research Club welcome you Hyoudou Issei-kun. As you have probably guessed, this is just a front for my peerage, and everyone in here is a devil."

Bat-like devil wings emerged from everyone there, as if on cue. It caused something in Issei to stir, and two of his own wings popped out, resembling theirs perfectly. It was a sad sight, not seeing his typical red dragon wings.

"Me included. Yippee," Issei fake-cheered, reminded yet again how far he had fallen. Literally, he went from heavenly dragon to hellish devil. When he realized everyone was staring at him, he figured his comment, though justified, was rude. "Please take care of me," he added, bowing a little.

Kiba thought it time to get to the question they all were itching to ask. "So, Buchou, you never did tell us what happened this morning."

The redhead crossed her legs. "I thought it fitting to wait for Issei-kun."

"Here's your tea." A cup of warm tea was placed in Issei's hands, courtesy of Akeno. When had she left to go get tea? He shrugged, taking a sip. 'Wow, this stuff is pretty damn good.'

"Now then," Rias began. "You can start with last night."

Issei frowned. "There's not really much to tell. A fallen angel thought I was a stray devil and attacked me. It was a foolish move, so he's now a bunch of scattered ashes." He didn't feel much remorse for the unnamed man. A long time ago he'd come to terms with the fact that some deserved life and others didn't.

Rias didn't seem pleased with him. "Issei-kun is a dragon, that is why he was able to so easily defeat the fallen one. His power was sealed until he died and was revived as a devil."

"A dragon," Koneko repeated, her face showing a small semblance of surprise. Kiba went with the flow, nodding. The blond was clearly pleased with the added power a dragon could bring to the team.

Akeno chuckled. "My my, I've heard dragons have quite the stamina." She glanced at him suggestively. "What do you say Issei-kun, want to test that later?"

"S-stamina," Issei stammered, before calming down. She was just messing with him. "Dragons don't usually have sex much before they find a mate." They did have a tendency to be extremely attractive to the opposite gender, though, so it was common for a dragon to have multiple mates. As Ddraig he'd ruined his chance for that by fighting constantly with Albion and training far too often. Sadly, he was often sealed in self-absorbed idiots who wanted both a harem and enormous power, just to remind him of the fact he couldn't have either. But now he could.

"How unfortunate," she lamented, taking a seat.

Why was Rias looking at him funny? "Why don't you take a seat too, Issei-kun?" Oh, right, that would only make sense. He found the chairs were quite comfortable. "So, what is your current level as a dragon?"

Actually, that was a good question. Issei paused to think. Technically, he could boost all the way back to his former power, he'd just die immediately. "I don't know. But I'm not a crappy, weak servant, so don't even think of calling me low-class."

That made Rias laugh for some reason. "All reincarnated devils start out as low-class. Promotions have more to do with tradition than power."

"Oh," Issei said. "What about that kid Tannin?"

Kiba raised an eyebrow. "Kid?"

"Tannin, as a former dragon king, is a special case," the club president justified.

'Damn you Great Red!' Issei cursed, comical tears in his eyes. 'This is so humiliating! To think the world is so cruel to make me a low-class devil.'

His reaction made Rias let out a huge sigh. When Issei had said he was a bad actor, he wasn't kidding, and there was no way that the peerage wouldn't find out who he was sooner or later. Akeno seemed amused by the dragon. "What's wrong, Dragon-kun?"

"I'm alright," Issei sobbed, making Rias roll her eyes.

Well, this was a mess from Rias's perspective. "If it makes you feel better, I won't have you pass out flyers."

"Flyers?"

"Silly me," the redhead said, "I forgot that you wouldn't know how devils work." After all, what importance was the actions and procedures of devils from the perspective of a sealed heavenly dragon? "As you know, during the Great War a majority of devils perished at the hands of both angels of heaven and fallen angels. Because our numbers were so low, the concept of evil pieces was invented to allow devils to reincarnate others. After being reincarnated, the servant retains most of their qualities from whatever species they were and had demonic power added on." Issei let out a relieved breath. He was proud of his heritage and would rather be considered both a devil and dragon over simply a devil. "Devils have a relatively low birth rate, so creating peerages helps give us an edge over fallen angels."

"Is that really why you revived me?" He bit out. That was selfish.

"No," Rias replied evenly, "it was a combination of things. You are a powerful addition to this team, but you also wanted to live so badly that you summoned me. Normally, that would summon Akeno, or perhaps Kiba, yet you had a strong will to live. You won't be a servant forever, either. High-class devils can become free devils and are given their own peerages."

He was going to become a high-class devil as soon as possible. Then, he could be completely free like he was before and have the devils' protection in case anyone decided that a heavenly dragon on the loose was too dangerous to allow. Wow, that actually sounded pretty nice. He let a pleased, "hmm." Still, he had one question. "How exactly do I rank up?"

"All you have to do is complete tasks and make contracts with humans to increase your demonic energy."

Hah, technically, all he had to do was get stronger? He grinned madly, striking a pose. "Yeeaaahhhh bitches! I'm gonna get back to normal in no time. Take that you dumbass white dragon!"

"You're insane," Koneko deadpanned, making him face fault.

'How heartless, Koneko-chan!'

Issei rubbed his hair, his face flushing red. He didn't mean to jump up and shout that, and he was kind of surprised that Albion still held this much importance. Didn't he already defeat the Vanishing Dragon simply by getting out of the sacred gear? "Well, it's embarrassing to admit, but I've had this long-time rivalry since I was young." He always though his own power the better of the two. It was far more masculine to double your energy than to take away from others' like a sneaky bastard.

"I'm well aware," Rias replied. No one else understood the situation. It would practically be impossible for anyone to guess that Issei was the Welsh Dragon, seeing how everyone still thought he was sealed away. "Now then, Issei-kun, would you like to get your first contact?"

"Hell yeah."

Rias was pleased with that. "Koneko, is it alright if he does your request today? I doubt he's suited for the tasks that Yuuto and Akeno perform."

The nekomata nodded. "That is okay."

It looked like being a devil wasn't too bad after all. And Rias, as he expected, didn't seem like the type to take advantage of her servants. "That sounds nice Rias-senpai."

"Call me Buchou. As the president of this club, it is only fitting that you address me as such."

Issei shrugged. He'd still call her whatever he wanted. For now, though, she had shown him some kindness, so he'd do the same. "Okay Buchou. That magic circle in the center is for transport, right?"

"Yep," Rias affirmed. "Just stand in the center and you will be teleported to the client's home. Oh, first things first." She stood up and went to a cabinet, reaching inside and pulling out some strange devices. "These will help you determine the price of what the client wants. I may be throwing you in the deep end, but it's what you wanted."

Issei pocketed the contraption. 'Meh, I'll figure it out later. It can't be that hard, right?' He got up and stood in the center of the red magic circle, body glowing.

"Akeno," Rias directed, the other bust third year knowing exactly what her master wanted. "Could you hold you hand out for me, Issei-kun?"

"Sure."

She tapped his palm with a finger, and his hand glowed red. When it died down, there was a symbol on his palm. "This is a seal that serves as proof that you're a member of the house of Gremory." The magic circle in the center of the room was glowing with energy. "Make me proud."

"That shouldn't be a problem," he grinned, stepping inside the circle.

'Alright, time to climb the ranks. I'll be on my own in no time flat.' His body became covered with bright red magic.

Then, nothing happened.

"You're kidding me!" Issei whined.

Why was Rias so disappointed!? Didn't she know how he felt? If Albion ever heard about this... "Well, this is unexpected. It seems that your draconic energy is overpowering your devil energy. No matter, there's another way."

.

"I had to walk!" He raged, huffing. "No one's got any respect these days! Who in their right mind would make a heavenly dragon walk anywhere... Stupid devils." He didn't mean it. Much.

The client didn't even let him do anything. It was practically the definition of a worthless trip. They had let him in out of kindness, but the moment the fat dude found out that Koneko wouldn't be coming, he was kicked out of the door. Being treated in this way was really a pain, and he had to reevaluate his whole opinion on being a devil. Hopefully, it wouldn't all suck this much. Surely, after he found some reasonable people to contract with, he could raise his demonic power in no time. Either that, or he could wait for it to balance out with his natural dragon energy, but that could take decades. Literally.

By now, it was dark out, and his parents were probably worried as hell. This morning, he'd told them "hey, I'm a reincarnated dragon," then he just goes and ditches them without checking in. It made him feel guilty, especially when his reason for not coming home after school led to absolutely nothing. He wondered just what they'd say when he came home after 8pm, the sun already set. No doubt, they'd have thought that someone found him and decided to take his power while he was weak. Stupidly, he warned them about something like that happening when he told them to keep it a secret. Thankfully, they believed him, so there wasn't a high chance of someone finding out.

'Why couldn't I have gotten my memories back in peace, huh?' He wondered, annoyed. At least, on the plus side, his master was nice and probably wouldn't restrict his free will too much. Well, to be honest, caging a dragon would be really stupid, and Rias was anything but stupid.

'Did it just get colder.' He looked around, his eyes scanning the darkness for anything out of the ordinary. 'No. Wait, I know this feeling...'

There was a voice behind him. "Hello Ddraig. It's been a while."

"Ophis!"

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AN: Unlike last chapter, this one didn't have as much action. It was also mostly filler and explanation, but there isn't much I can do to fix that. Not to worry, though, Issei will kick some ass later.


	4. Chapter 4

AN: As you guys may have figured out, I'm doing this story full time now. And it will not be a series of one-shots. That's right, it's gonna be awesome.

I know last chapter was a huge cliffhanger, so here's the continuation...

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Ch 4: Anticipation

"Ophis!" Issei exclaimed in surprise, turning around to see the a young, petite girl dressed in gothic lolita clothes. Her long black hair and grey eyes gave the perfect indication of her personality, which Issei knew to be plain. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Curious." She tilted her head at him, trying to figure out something that was bothering her. "I, felt your energy signature," she answered simply, pausing after 'I'. "It was different. Because you have a new look?"

He rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, about that." They may have been on friendly terms, but he wasn't going to start spilling his guts to her. "I'm not the only one, it seems. Last time we met, you were an old dude. I gotta say, as creepy as it is, this suits you better." One expected old men to be wise and easily amused, if somewhat cranky, but Ophis had completely shattered that stereotype. It was strange for him, talking to a quiet, straightforward man who was in actuality many times stronger than Ddraig was at his peak. Of course, he had always told her that she should create a dragon form for herself, since it was only fitting of the one known as the Infinite Dragon God.

"You are out of the sacred gear." It wasn't in any way a question. She had known that fully well from the start. Issei knew he wasn't interesting enough for her to want to visit all of his hosts in order to talk to him. He was also entirely aware that she didn't converse solely for pleasure. In fact, he really had no idea if she felt pleasure in the typical sense.

"I suppose I am." With a sigh, he took a breath. Better rip the bandage off now and get this over with. "You want me to help fight Great Red?"

She made no signs of surprise that he knew that. Instead, she gave him a creepy almost-smile. "All I desire is silence." She glanced past him, as if looking through reality. "For that, I will return to the dimensional gap."

"Trust me... if there's anything I get, it's that sometimes you just want to be left alone." Seriously, he had lived for eternity, host after host stealing his power from the sacred gear. Before then, he was constantly bothered by dragons challenging him and beings like God deciding he was a threat. Then there was Albion. Jeez, he didn't even know where to start about the Vanishing Dragon. "But I can't help you. I'm just some kid going to high school."

Did she seem amused? No, it was clearly a trick of the light. "You are a devil now, Ddaig. How interesting. I, want you to join my faction."

Oh hell no. She had some crazy scheme going, didn't she? "Look, I spent years getting out of that thing and now I get stuck as a devil. I just want this crazy stuff to be over with so I can settle down and find a mate, so no, I'm not joining your faction."

"A mate is what you want? I, can supply that." It took no less than two seconds before Issei began eating his words. Ophis removed her jacket then began pulling down her skirt. He felt his face heating up. W-was she stripping in this little girl form?

He couldn't form words as she reached down and raised her shirt over her head. She was left in a white bra and panties. 'For a young girl, she has rather decent breasts,' he thought idly, smacking himself in his head. He couldn't believe this was happening, gaping at the scene that was unfolding right in front of his eyes. It didn't stop there, however.

As she tugged at her bra, Issei's senses came back. "Ahhh! Ophis-chan, it's fine. Really! You don't need to strip right now!" He wasn't entirely certain why she was so eager to have sex, but it was likely for her own goals in some twisted manner. Perhaps she thought it would get in into her faction, or maybe she wanted to raise a kid to defeat Great Red. He would never understand how her mind worked.

She frowned. "Am I, an unworthy mate?"

"No, nothing like that," Issei sighed, before grinning. She always was so naive. Conversations like this really brought him back. "This isn't something people do in public, you know. And, I was going to focus on getting back to my former strength before considering this."

"Oh." She sounded almost disappointed. "If I gave you power, would you then?"

"Heh," Issei chuckled. "It's not all about that. The work I put in to get back to how I was, that's what matters. I've learned a couple things over the last few centuries, and one is that borrowed strength never ends well." He thought for a moment. "I'm not just Ddraig anymore, Ophis-chan. I'm Issei, I'm a devil servant, and I've got a few things to figure out first before doing anything this crazy."

"That is acceptable. I shall give you time. You do not wish to join the Khaos Brigade?"

'Khaos Brigade?' That was a fairly unusual name for a faction of Ophis's. Last time she called it 'Kill Baka-Red,' but that one was kind of a flop. "Not unless you've got anything to convince me. I'd rather not go joining other factions when I've got a devil I'm supposed to be a servant of." He wouldn't do that to Rias. An asshole of a king maybe, but probably not someone as kind (and hot) as Rias.

"Your rival."

What did this have to do with that bastard? "Albion? How's he a reason I should help you get rid of Great Red?"

Ophis smiled, scaring the pants off of Issei. "His host has joined."

Issei leaned closer. "And who is this host? I'm gonna meet him and gloat in the White One's face."

"Their name, is Vali."

He smirked eagerly. Finally, the sweet taste of victory will be his. All he needed was some time to get his body in better condition. "Get him to meet me here in a week, and we'll talk about the Khaos Brigade." Now that he knew he could be on the same team as his rival, constantly asserting his superiority, this offer grew a whole lot more enticing. Of course, he still had to consider the fact that he'd have to put up with Albion all the time, but maybe this generation's host wouldn't be so bad.

Heh, this second chance was kicking ass already.

.

"Where were you?"

On second thought, it had been a mistake to text Rias the moment he was done with his attempt at scoring a contract. She had to show just how worried she was in front of the entire peerage. She, a high-class devil, was worried about him, a heavenly dragon... how absurd! Of course, she knew he wasn't back to full strength, and he had told her that some people out there would take advantage of that for his power, but come on! It wasn't like he was helpless or clueless. Most of the time on the latter, at least. He didn't think he was _that_ clueless.

Kiba, the Casanova that he was, seemed endlessly amused at their president's worry and Issei's nigh offended reaction. Issei glared at him. "What're you looking at?" He mumbled inaudibly under his breath.

"What was that?"

Ah! He forgot that devils had enhanced hearing too! "Nothing!"

Akeno, on the other hand, seemed to have expected this. "Buchou, don't you think you should tone it down? He is a dragon."

Rias realized her fault, letting out a small breath and smiling. "Yes, that's right." She stood from her desk, walking more towards the center of the room where everyone else was. "However, it's only the typical action of a master to worry over their servants." Well, he did admit to her earlier that he was way weaker than he used to be.

"Speaking of," Kiba redirected, "how did your first summoning go?"

"Horrible," Issei deadpanned, the memory of the huge failure making him hold his head in his hands.

"Ah well," the knight shrugged off, not the least bit perturbed. "I'm sure you'll improve with time." See, this guy was just too polite to be real!

"It wasn't my fault," Issei argued. "The guy only wanted Koneko-chan." Said cat-girl didn't even seem sympathetic at all. How cruel.

Rias hummed. "In hindsight, it was a rather poor decision to give you that client specifically. You will be able to make contracts in the future, that I am certain of." She really was something, to have such faith in her servants.

'I guess I'd be a good choice to have faith in, considering that I'm the Red Dragon Emperor. Still, I utterly failed this small, simple task.' Issei hung his head. "I'll hand out flyers, then."

The club president waved her hand. "No, there's no need. In a few weeks when there is a full moon we can get you a familiar to do that for you. Dragons value their pride, right?"

"Thank you, Buchou. I'm glad you're the one that revived me, not some other devil. If it is alright with you, I'd like to get home now. My parents are probably debating on whether I died or not..."

"Ah yes, they're quite the interesting bunch aren't they." She crossed her arms. "Did you really have to tell them everything?"

Issei didn't waver at all, replying resolutely, "yes, I did." He had no regrets about that. If anyone could figure out who or what he was, it'd be the two who've always been there for him. His gaze softened, knowing she wasn't trying to insult them, merely pointing out that it was bad practice to spill the supernatural beans to an average human. "Tomorrow, Buchou, I'll prove that I can get that contract."

With those words, the dragon left.

The remaining peerage members noticed the thick, ominous silence that hung in the air after Issei's abrupt declaration. Rias took a seat on the couch, still looking towards the door. 'How strange.' Issei Hyoudou was a tough guy to pin down. While he could act like a normal teen most of the time, there were moments when it was clear that he was an ancient, powerful dragon with his own agenda. Perhaps she was allowing too much freedom for her new servant? After everything was said and done, he still technically belonged to her, regardless of the fact he had been and still was a heavenly dragon.

"No," she muttered out loud, breaking the silence and drawing the attention of her peerage. "Dragons are free spirited, and I can only expect Issei to be the same."

"Talking to yourself, Buchou?" Akeno chuckled.

Rias smiled. "I suppose I am. You could say I'm excited about the future." She somewhat selfishly knew that he would become an incredibly valuable piece, one that could solve a problem that had plagued her for most of her life. More than that, though, he would become a friend and a member of her family, and she couldn't wait for that to happen.

"You like him, don't you?" The queen inferred. "Well then, be prepared for some competition."

Koneko sighed. "...Great..."

The blond prince noticed her quiet, sarcastic words while the two busty third years had an intense stare-off. "Yep, Issei-san is going to have his hands full. Even a dragon wouldn't want to get stuck between those two."

.

Sleep was for chumps. As a devil, the night was his domain. As a dragon, his stamina and energy were through the roof. Why would he waste his peak hours with something as lame as sleep when he had a rival somewhere out there that he needed to obliterate? Screw school tomorrow, there was nothing better than the feeling of training for hours and hours. He had long since tossed his sweat-covered shirt away, revealing his well-toned abs and body. In the past, he had never lazy with his workouts. Though the draconic energy leaking into his body for years had helped immensely with his strength, he had taken it upon himself to stay in top shape. Now, though, he could go further.

Gripping the top of his door, he pulled himself up, muscles shaking. He was only a couple hundred pull-ups in, there was no reason to give up now! After doing push ups for hours and squats using whatever weight he could find, this was all he could come up with. Sure, his body may have felt like it was burning from the inside out, and he knew he would pass out eventually, but he had to do this. The more he built up his physical prowess, the more boosts he could take. As ridiculous as this training sounded, it was nothing compared to his life as Ddraig when he could, according to himself, destroy the world many times over without boosting much. Dragons valued pure strength far more than any other species, and it showed.

So he hung there, shaking, trying to get another one in. Then, all the sudden, the door swung mom came face-to-chest with his half-naked body.

"AHHHH!" Issei screamed, crashing unceremoniously onto the floor with a loud thump.

"Issei Hyoudou!" His mom admonished. "What are you doing?"

"Well," he rubbed the back of his guiltily. He knew she wouldn't approve of this. "I was training all night."

She placed her hands on her hips. "It's a school night, Issei, and I expect you to stay awake through all of your classes. I don't care if you're a dragon or not, you better not be ruining your education. Is that clear!?"

Man, was she always this scary? "O-of course."

"Okaa-chan, what's going on?" Great, now his father was going to rip on him too. The glasses-wearing businessman arrived at the doorway, taking in the scene. "Oh, I know the signs perfectly. You're trying to impress some woman, aren't you."

"What, no!" Issei denied zealously.

He nudged his son's shoulder. "Not even that foreign redhead?"

"Y-you mean Buchou? No, absolutely not! I swear, it's just so I can beat my rival."

His mom sighed. "Oh, young love, how I remember those days."

Issei deadpanned internally. 'I'm older than you, you know.'

"Well, you better get to school," his father suggested. "You know how your mother feels about you arriving late."

The teen sighed and closed the door, wandering back into his room and diving face-first onto the bed. "And take a shower!" His mom added, shouting.

He was an essentially immortal, omnipotent dragon that was more powerful than most gods, and here he was, ordered around effortlessly by these two monsters of human beings. "Maybe I should've let Buchou deal with this," he considered randomly, burying his face in a pillow. One thing was for sure, he was not going to suffer through the humiliation of Albion meeting his family. Ever.

.

That evening at the Occult Research Club everyone except Rias was out serving a client. Issei sighed, realizing that it was going to take a while to get the hang of this whole devil stuff. Pleasing other people hadn't ever made his list of top favorite things to do, and it certainly wasn't one of his main skills as a dragon. Unless they wanted to challenge him to a fight for their contract... that would rock. Alas, Rias knew no one who would summon a devil for that purpose.

'Kiba gets all the hot chicks. Akeno gets businessmen looking for relaxation. Koneko gets some freaky guys who want are interested in young, cute girls. And what do I get? Nothing!' What kind of person wanted to summon him when they could get the Casanova or a well-proportioned Akeno? Sure he was a dragon, but they wanted a devil. Maybe it was best not to focus on contracts for now; they weren't all there was in the life of a devil.

"Something on your mind, Issei-kun?"

Oh, right. Was he awkwardly thinking in the middle of a conversation? He wasn't that used to being expected to talk with people, considering his past. "Actually, yeah. How did you say devils gained power again?"

"Reincarnated devils generally focus on contracts," she replied, placing a hand on her chin as she thought. "Although it is a slow process, it builds up their natural reserves over time. Of course, training works as well."

"What about magic and stuff? Admittedly, despite the variety of hosts I've had, I don't know much about how that works." Most of his hosts were regular, run-of-the-mill humans who focused only on wielding his power. In retrospect, that was probably what caused most of them to go crazy and waste their life force in Juggernaut Drive when they had no other option.

Rias shook her head. "Over time, I expect that you will learn some things, but I didn't place the bishop in your body for a reason. Your physical strength is far more impressive." True enough, the bishop piece wouldn't affect his dragon abilities whatsoever. Boosting wasn't a magical skill, as strange as that seemed. It was a quality of his being.

"Then what piece did you use?"

She genuinely seemed surprised. "I thought you knew? No matter, I made you my rook, like Koneko. It enhances both offensive and defensive capabilities." That was awesome! Issei grinned. She could not have chosen a better fit, and that was based on a single look after Raynare had stabbed him. Not only was she observant, she was intelligent as well.

"What's got you so curious about powering up all the sudden? You've lived a long life and surely can appreciate that good things come with time."

That was a valid question. He wasn't sure how much Rias believed that, but it _was_ something that he had learned over the years. "To be honest, I wasn't planning on telling you this. I found Albion and will fight his host in six days."

"Six days!" Rias exclaimed. "I refuse to let you do this."

"Oh come on, surely you can't be serious."

"I am serious," she answered immediately. Unsaid words hung in the air, silence engulfing the conversation. Rias let out a long breath before continuing. "I am aware that you aren't one to trust that I know what's best for you. Dragons are independent creatures, after all. But fighting Albion this early is a mistake. As it stands, you were able to defeat a low-class fallen angel at the cost of a completely shattered hand and a whole night of rehabilitation. I doubt the White Dragon Emperor would be such a simple enemy."

"Grrr." Issei fumed. "Are you saying I can't take him?"

Rias chuckled. "Not at all, Issei-kun. After so long, I understand that you're eager to fight for yourself. Something like this can't be rushed. You have amazing power, Ddraig, but you have to relearn how to contain it."

Her use of his other name caught him off guard. "I gave myself six days. That's plenty."

"It seems that you aren't backing down from this, then?" She questioned.

"Not a chance."

She smirked. "Well then, I suppose I have choice but to help you train."

.

AN: I apologize so much for the short chapter. I wanted to extend it, I really did, but it just didn't fit properly and this was the best part to cut it off. As you can see, this is going to be quite different from canon. Next chapter will probably introduce Asia and we can hopefully move forward. Don't worry, Ophis isn't gone yet and she'll make a reappearance very soon!

What do you guys think about the changes I've made so far? Obviously, I'm edging towards Ophis in the harem, and this was just her introduction.


	5. Chapter 5

AN: I'll admit that I took a long time to get to this chapter. Thankfully, I'm focusing on this story more than my others for the next couple weeks. One or two people have made comments trying to correct me in the fact that Ddraig doesn't need to invoke "boost" to increase power. That is true, and it was mentioned in the 2nd chapter. All those people did was look like idiots and annoy me... On the other hand if you do find a _real_ discrepancy, please tell me.

Important! I edited last chapter slightly. I suggest a re-read before moving to this one.

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Ch 5: Dreams

Issei bit his lip. As much as he appreciated the gesture from Rias, the thought that he, an eternal dragon, needed guidance from a young devil in how to use his own power was absurd. On the other hand, he had never bothered with magic before, seeing how it was rather pointless from the perspective of nearly all dragons. The most any of them ever learned was to shift forms like Tannin or Tiamat, and neither Ddraig nor Albion even learned that. For him specifically, it had always been about increasing his strength and his power until he had no equal. That hardly had anything to do with the typical flashy, overly complicated spells used in magic.

"Don't give me that look, Issei-kun," Rias sighed as the two of them came to an open field. The school's grounds were enormous and provided ample room for any type of supernatural training nonsense. "I know exactly what you're thinking about this. The fact remains that, however renown you are as a dragon, it has nothing to do with your power as a devil."

"Yeah, yeah," he murmured unintelligibly, "why don't you remind me how weak I am again, huh?" Ah, what was he saying; sarcasm would get him nowhere, and Rias had only been good to him.

They walked for a couple minutes until they were in a relatively remote clearing behind the school. "Okay! No one will bother us here. Just try not to destroy the place."

"T-that was that one time!" Well, he was actually a rather destructive fighter normally, so the outcome of his fight against the fallen wasn't unusual to say the least. But he was turning over a new leaf! Maybe...

"Was it then? So the tales I head about the immense devastation wrought by the Heavenly Dragons were false?" She did _not_ just say that.

"Oi, that's not fair at all," Issei protested halfheartedly. Then, he grinned proudly at the memory. "Well, it did take all three factions _teaming up_ to even pose a threat to me." He frowned again though. "If you know that, then why the hell do you think that helping me with training will do any good?" No one taught him how to become one of the strongest beings to ever exist, he trained his body an insane amount to reach that position.

"It may, it may not. The point is that you're my servant, and I am obligated to help my servants with their problems. Yours is that you have no conception of devil magic or how it may be a clear benefit to learn it, instead of relying solely on a power that shattered your hand and nearly destroyed your body. There's more to magic than just transport circles," she added with a sigh.

"Even so," Issei replied slowly, thinking this through. On one hand, she was obviously more knowledgeable about being a devil, but on the other she would never comprehend the true threshold of a heavenly dragon. At present, his body provided a harsh restriction to his boosting, but if he were to train possibly to the point of regaining his dragon form, there would be no contest. That said, it could take years, even with the help of his draconic essence and aura. "Mastering one type of magic would probably take as long as increasing my power normally."

Rias smirked. "Devils don't use the same magic as you're familiar with. Humans use formulas and complex calculations to bring about a certain effect, but devils... we use willpower. Whatever you desire, it is in your power to make it reality, with some practice of course."

"W-what," he gasped, looking at his hands. If he could do _that_. "Would it be possible to regain my dragon form then?"

The king seemed amused. "Nothing so drastic. Besides, that would require a dragon's aura to work. You could learn an illusion to make it appear as if-"

"No," Issei interrupted. "Illusions are the product of those without the courage to fight on equal grounds."

Rias hardly expected something along those lines. "Perhaps. That is quite a profound thing to say. I fail to understand how you can be both an awkward teenager and an esteemed dragon at the same time." After realizing she went off on a tangent, she nearly berated herself. "Nonetheless, the possibilities are endless. First, you must learn how to gather your demonic energy in the first place."

She was already moving on regardless of his opinion? Dang, that was some serious confidence that he could use this. 'Heh, I guess if she's so insistent about it, the least I can do is see whether I'm any good at devil magic.' "As long as I upstage that prissy jerk, that's fine by me."

That made her grin. "Let's get started then."

.

'I'm such a failure,' Issei sighed as he walked home. It was well past sunset, and he had already called his parents to say he was doing devil stuff and they shouldn't worried. 'After practicing for over five hours, I still suck at devil magic. Probably should have just stuck with my dragon abilities, since I worked so hard to get them to this level.' Those five hours could have been spent bulking up, training his body so that he could take more power increases, but instead he tried in vain to learn devil magic. Though, he _was_ making progress, it wasn't anywhere near what he'd need in order to beat a longinus-class Sacred Gear user. He wasn't naive enough to think that he could learn and develop a new ability in a solely a week then use it to best his rival.

 _"Our magic is all about visualization, Issei-kun. What are your goals, what do you want to accomplish? Feel your energy powered by your desires, and have it flow through your body to a single point."_

"That would be great, but I don't know what I want anymore..." Yes, he did have the goal of humiliating Albion once and for all, but what was there to do after that? He would be left alone at the top, no one to compete against and no reason to get stronger beyond improving himself.

Dragons were selfish, but their desire seemed insignificant in comparison to the avarice and greed innate in all devils. While the former species was known for the freedom of flying through the skies, devils spent their entire lives building harems, acquiring land, and controlling others all for personal gain. It was a cynical way to look at it, but Ddraig felt as if the fact that he was comparatively terrible at devil magic was proof of the moral superiority of his species. Seriously, if he acted like a selfish jerk like Albion, he could make his problems go away, but that was just dumb.

"Well, even if devil magic isn't for me..." he shrugged it off. "When I find that reason, I'll be able to do something." Why was he worrying so much about this? He had a whole lifetime to figure out what do with his life, no worries of being trapped in a wretched Sacred Gear again. And it wasn't like he was weak without the support of devil energy, although he did have some limitations.

Wait, why did he sense something off? It was like... "Are you kidding," he called out, "I'm just trying to walk home from my club." Did everyone have to bother him on his walks home? What was this, the third time already?

"I'm impressed you noticed me so quickly." A woman stepped out from an alleyway behind him. On closer inspection, she was tall, over six feet, and had a thin body. That's not to say her trench coat didn't fully expose an exceptional amount of cleavage, because it did. Issei's eyes were right to her well-highlighted double D's, her curvaceous figure only accentuated by the straight blue hair and unfeeling brown eyes. Something about just screamed sexy. "I wasn't expecting someone like you based off of the description, but I am certain you're the one I was sent to find."

It seemed she was one of the fallen angels, if her scent was anything to judge by. "Look lady, I have already had enough of you fallen angels. Raynare was alright, she helped more than she realized, but this is just getting ridiculous."

"I'm surprised you're still alive," she continued, ignoring him. "My name is Kalawarner, and I have orders to destroy you." Two black wings opened from her shoulders and a yellow light spear materialized effortlessly in her hand

Issei groaned. "Hey, come on, please don't be like this. The last time this happened I blew up a park." That, and he wasn't insistent on fighting after growing tied from hours of training. Magical exhaustion took a decided mental toll that, unlike physical exhaustion, wasn't easily overcome.

"Y-you did that!?" In an instant, her eyes were filled with fear. "You killed Dohnaseek!?"

So that was his name. Issei didn't feel too guilty about obliterating the fallen angel Dohnaseek. It was a tough world out there, and he'd had plenty of time to learn that anyone who went looking for a fight should be prepared to meet their end. The insane amount of Boosted Gear and Divine Dividing users perishing at each other's hand as often as others was a prime example. "Yeah, he attacked me. Only idiots go after a dragon in their own territory."

"N-no way. I refuse to believe it." She threw the spear at him with one huge motion.

Issei flared up his aura a bit, slapping the light spear away with the back of his hand. Then, he let out a terrifying grin filled with the beginnings of a couple sharp fangs. His eyes pulled into deadly slits. "It takes a lot more than that to scratch me, weakness to light or not." With the rook bonus, he could see his defense becoming an absolute monstrosity in dragon form. After fighting Dohnaseek, he also knew that the light spears from a fallen with only a single pair of wings weren't a threat as long as he increased his power a little.

"No way," she bit out. "I've got better things to do than to deal with this crap." As she turned tail and began flying away, Issei contemplated taking her down. This was Rias's, and by extension his, territory now, so he was obligated to protect it as a self-respecting dragon. However, he wasn't concerned about a single fallen angel of her rank whatsoever, so it was better he left her alone. A fight with her would be practically worthless and an unneeded use of his great power.

"Meh, she's right. I've got better things to do."

Time to go home and train!

.

If he was tired yesterday for skimping out on sleep, he almost a zombie this time. It was a day after his encounter with Kalawarner, and he had been incredibly occupied with preparing himself for the upcoming fight against Albion. Not only did he train his physical strength through lifting absurd amounts (by human standards), he also attempted to figure out how to use his devil energy. That was a tall order for one night, and even with his inhuman recovery capability, it was plenty to leave him drop-dead exhausted. Technically he didn't need sleep as a dragon, they were being comprised mostly of energy after all, but he still had a human (or was it devil now?) body. It's kind of ironic, then, that most other dragons were notoriously lazy like Midardsormr. Even Ddraig was accused of laziness when trapped in the Boosted Gear, though that was totally justifiable.

Ah, his thoughts were going off on a tangent again. Having a mortal body always made his focus go out of whack. Here he was, walking home on the way from school and all he could think about was how ironic the world was. 'I guess I'm too used to having nothing to do but think.' He shrugged, deciding that the problem'll fix itself out eventually.

'Man, I think I'm gonna skip out on training today...' He rolled a sore shoulder, yet it was no worse than the rest of his aching body. He yawned. 'No, wait, I have to beat this Vali guy. I can rest afterwards.' First things first. He only had five more days to get ready for their fight, and he couldn't afford to miss one. Besides, he had an enormous amount of dragon energy from being a heavenly dragon, so his body wouldn't suffer any permanent damage from over-training. Once he was strong enough, he'd be able to accept more of that energy and double or triple his healing factor. When he got his dragon body back, all of this was basically irrelevant anyway.

'Heh, one week? I could take the White One's host on right now!'

"Aaahhh!" Issei's thoughts were interrupted by a sudden yelp of surprise coming from behind him.

He turned around to see that a young girl wearing a white shawl with green trim and a dull blue nun outfit was sprawled on the ground. Her blond hair practically glowed in the sunlight and flowed past the shawl to her waist. Based on the attire, he figured she must have been a Sister at the local church.

"Are you alright there?" He asked, extending a hand to help her up.

"Uah, I tripped again," she said, cutely frustrated with her clumsiness. After grabbing his hand, she smiled warmly, "thank you very much, mister." Thanks to the devils' ability to instantly understand all languages, Issei had no problem with her Italian.

"Don't mention it. Least I can do is help a pretty girl up." Her cheeks reddened in embarrassment for a moment.

As she rose to her feet, a small _whoosh_ of wind caught the white shawl and whisked it off her head, exposing her wide, surprised green eyes. It struck Issei just then that she was absolutely beautiful, in a pure kind of way. The silver cross hanging around her neck only reinforced this image. He grabbed the shawl that flew off.

'Hmm, I wonder how my life would have turned out if I became a Holy Dragon back before I was sealed?' Would following someone else's moral code have ended up turning his life around? In a way, it made him grin at how similar that is, ironically, to serving a devil. The church was just as bad as the other factions, even if the former did have a higher regard for life in general.

"U-um, are you okay mister?"

Oh, right! "Y-yeah, don't mind me," he replied quickly, realizing how awkwardly distracted he must have looked. He handed her back her shawl. "It's just that... I haven't seen too many Sisters around here recently." No doubt due to the fallen angels.

She nodded. "I was recently assigned to the church in this town. You must be a resident, then?" She bowed her head quickly. "It is a pleasure to meet you." She was incredibly polite and kind.

"Yep. Lived here all my life."

With a breath of relief, she smiled. "I, um, can't speak Japanese very well. I got lost and people couldn't understand me. I just can't find my way to the church. I-if it isn't too much trouble..."

"Not at all!" Issei assured her. "I can help out. Heh, I was looking for an excuse to wander around anyway."

Her entire visage brightened. "That's great! Thank you so much, mister."

"Ah," Issei said, waving his hand, as they started walking. "You don't need to call me 'mister.' My name's... Hyoudou Issei." Huh, was that really what he should call himself now? He was a heavenly dragon, no matter how week, and surely he should embrace that more? He shook his head. 'Later, after my fight with this Vali guy.' Once he proved himself strong enough, he would reveal his true identity.

"Pleased to meet you, Issei-san. My name is Asia Argento."

People like this were so rare... he couldn't imagine what it would have been like if someone like Asia had received the Boosted Gear and used the power to help people. He wouldn't be the first dragon to admit that he was selfish, and it seemed almost all of his wielders in the past shared that quality. Well, until the case where he was sealed in himself. Wow, that was a strange thought. He knew exactly how weird this was from both ends. One where he couldn't talk to his host, and the other where his life was changing and he couldn't figure out why. He chuckled a little.

"What is it, Issei-san?" Asia asked curiously.

He shook his head, amused with himself. "Oh, nothing. It's just that I've had a really weird life, ya know." He rubbed the back of his head. "In truth, I'm not sure what I want anymore." All the sudden, the rivalry seemed so much less important. He couldn't tell if that was because half of him was some normal high school student or if it was because all this time in the Boosted Gear had changed him. The competitive edge that drove both him and Albion to become heavenly dragons had been dulled, and he had no idea what his life would be like without it. "I guess everything's so different now."

"I'm sure you'll figure it out!" The nun asserted compassionately.

The two of them were disrupted by a loud crying. Issei turned his head to see a kid on the ground, holding an injured knee and wailing in pain. Asia turned her head at the sound and instantly rushed towards the boy's side.

"A big boy like you shouldn't cry over a scrape," she encouraged gently, placing her hands over his knee. "Don't worry, you're going to be fine." The silver ring on her left middle finger glowed green, and a warm, tingly feeling washed over Issei.

The boy stared in wonder as the wound began to close up and the pain disappeared. Issei's eyes widened. 'That's a useful supporting sacred gear.' He could imagine how overpowered that could be if he transferred his power to it. 'Wait, could I even transfer now?' He wondered idly.

"That was pretty cool," he admitted, grinning as Asia stepped away from the boy and the two continued walking.

Asia brightened. "Thank you! I consider it both a gift and a blessing." Issei noticed a dramatic shift in tone as she looked downwards, as if remembering something painful. "Truly, it's wonderful."

He didn't want to pry, and he seemed to put her on a touchy topic, so the two walked in silence around town for a couple minutes. A part of him wanted to take whoever or whatever made her feel this way and remove it. Nothing this pure and innocent deserved hardship like that. Still, he wasn't about to ask, and it was probably better that he didn't get too involved. For himself, as a 'selfish' dragon, and because he was a devil.

"Oh, there it is!" Asia jumped excitedly, pointing towards the old church. It was situated atop a hill just outside the town, and Issei had never seen anyone use it. Come to think of it, it was incredibly likely that it was the base of the fallen angels that he'd been encountering the past couple days.

"Yep, that's the only one we've got here." Suddenly, a cold shiver ran through his body. 'Damn, I know that you don't like God, stupid weak devil instinct!' Urgh, he was always going to be vulnerable to holy artifacts for eternity... how fun.

"Thank goodness I found it. I'm so glad that I met someone kind like you to guide my way!"

"Hehe, it was nothing, seriously." This was a good distraction from being a devil and dealing with his unusual identity.

She placed her hands together, seeming as if she just thought up some amazing idea. "Would it be a problem for you to come inside with me?"

"I-I'm sorry. I can't go at the moment." He doubted God would appreciate him intruding much in his domain. Though the guy was dead, he had sacrificed a respectable amount of his power to contain both him and Albion in sacred gears. Obviously, there was a disagreement somewhere in the past. Then there was the fact that he was a devil. While he never cared for politics, and still didn't, he knew it could be extremely problematic for Rias, and as he was right now, sparking a war was a poor idea.

She frowned cutely, obviously a little disappointed. The expression didn't last long though. "That's okay. I should probably get going anyway."

Wait, he didn't want to leave it on this note! He just met this really pretty and amiable girl, and he wasn't prepared to leave her alone. "Maybe you can come find me later? I'm a second year at Kuoh Academy on the south side of town." Call it what you will, the dragon stealing the maiden or some teen finding a blond beauty he could not take his eyes off of; he knew that she would become a part of his life somehow.

With a nod, she replied. "Meeting you was a stoke of good fortune. I hope we see each other again!"

As she walked away, Issei was left a bunch of conflicting thoughts.

.

"You walked a nun to the church?" Rias questioned in a near-patronizing tone.

Thankfully, they were the only ones in the Occult Research Club room at the moment, seeing how everyone else was out getting contracts. Specifically, they were in Rias's adjacent office, the place where she gave out her inevitably patronizing comments. Issei wasn't eager for their consistent judgmental remarks, as contemptuous as it sounded.

"Well, not _to_ the church. I did point out where it was to her, though."

The redhead sighed. "You know that you shouldn't get involved in the affairs of the church. It's enemy territory, and setting foot inside could have serious implications. Now that you're a member of a faction, those implications affect you too, Ddraig." Was she going to start calling him Ddraig in private now? He supposed it made sense. Not only did she confirm audibly that she had, somehow, acquired a heavenly dragon as a peerage member, it showed him that she knew exactly what he was and what he had done.

Maybe that was a little too cynical, but he wasn't too thrilled with her telling him what to do. "Look, Rias. I have lived for millenia longer than you, and I know plenty about how much the factions hate each other. The church is probably the base for those fallen anyway... not like I'd start anything serious."

"Even so, you need to be careful now. Your body doesn't heal, nor is it as strong as it was when you were a dragon." She crossed her arms. "That's why I'm so against you fighting Albion so soon."

"You think I don't know how pathetically weak I am?" He growled out. "Don't forget that I'm _still_ a dragon."

He took a breath, calming down. Since Rias had been a big help over the past couple days, he wasn't intent on invoking her ire. "Eh, I'm getting too worked up about this, sorry. You have a point, Buchou, I know that I'm pushing too hard too fast. It's a mistake that I've seen too many times, but I made the same one despite knowing the consequences." He smirked. "Then again, I _am_ Ddraig, the Red Dragon Emperor. That's true too, as weird as it sounds. It's been my dream for centuries to make it out of the sacred gear and end this petty rivalry once and for all. Too many people died from it, and I'm tired of causing this mess." He wouldn't have said anything like that if he had soley been Ddraig, but the part of him that was Issei could easily recognize the mistkes make in the past.

She cracked an amused smirk. "See, you do have a strong desire to fuel your devil energy after all." Her face grew serious in an instant. "There isn't much else I can do for you beyond giving minor tips on our magic. I only have one request that you must honor in your fight with the Vanishing Dragon."

"One request? I think I can deal with that."

"You are not allowed to die, Ddraig-kun."

.

AN: Can you believe I thought I was going to get to the rival battle this chapter? Nope, my stories are paced too slow for that. It _should_ be next chapter though.

After seeing the Asia scene so often in fanfics, I had to do something different. Even if it played out about the same, it was a good place for Issei/Ddraig to reflect a bit and wonder what's gonna happen in his future. What drives him? These seem kind of sappy (hey, I _am_ a Fairy Tail fan), but they're important elements to developing a character. Especially when that character is as convoluted as one created from meshing two very different personalities. I know, I overthink these things a ton, in both abilities and plot. If you guys want me to write future fics as just _'action!... badassery!'_ then feel free to tell me I'm a sappy idiot.

In other news, these are the options as of now for the harem. I have my own plans, and it doesn't necessarily equal this list, but you guys are free to state opinions on all these characters and more. The actual harem will _not_ be announced and instead will develop as this story comes along. This is 'cause I'm the type of person that hates to give away the plot. The harem will probably be 4-5 girls since a big harem makes it nearly impossible to show character development for all the members while maintaining their relevancy.

So, harem options so far:

Ophis

Asia

Rias

Akeno

Irina

Xenovia

Ravel

Sona

Raynare

A surprise addition to be introduced soon


End file.
